With New Home Sales Slowing, Builders Pitch Boomers on Making Homes "Accessible"

June Fletcher of the Wall Street Journal recently observed the movement in the building industry to market accessibility to baby boomers who want to age in their own homes but might need a few conveniences to do so. Traditionally, the market for "universal-design" products has been the elderly and handicapped, but in the midst of a housing slump builders and manufacturers see a bigger prize, baby boomer homeowners who don't need them yet, but still might pay for them today.

Big builders such as K. Hovnanian on the East Coast and Standard Pacific on the West are touting wheelchair-friendly doorways, shelves and countertops that require less bending and reaching, and master suites on the first floor. And while furniture and housewares manufacturers have already discovered the market for remote-control recliners and ergonomic potato peelers, major appliance manufacturers are now stepping in, with the likes of General Electric, Delta and Jacuzzi offering new appliances and fixtures for homeowners with physical limitations.

According to the Journal article, so far the approach has worked and demand has been growing. The strategy makes sense. In the post war years, the big market was in small affordable homes that could be bought on a GI bill and were suitable for raising a family. Sixty years later, the children of those GI's are looking ahead a few decades and don't want to be moved into a retirement community. They want to be able to age in place but understand that there might be a few accommodations necessary.

AARP calls it "50+ friendly" and says:

The first modality of Independent Living was home modification. In many cases, then as now, the idea was plain and straightforward. Will grab-bars in the bathroom, a ramp up to the front porch, or better lighting in the staircase enable people to stay in their own homes, in their own communities-in the own, familiar lives-longer? The answer was yes. It still is. And of course, modifying homes to make them more livable-and less likely to be obstacle courses or accidents waiting to happen-will continue to be important.

The more people who want to stay in their own homes, the more opportunities there will be for modifications, for remodeling, for upgrading.

If you are building or buying a new home or perhaps planning on a remodel, adding in universal design elements might not only help you but help its value in the resale market.

Additional resource: Administration on Aging Home Remodeling